In today's highly competitive economy, a company's survival depends upon the marketing manager's ability to make sound business decisions, to outguess competitors, to anticipate consumer needs, to forecast business conditions and to plan generally for company growth. Marketing research is a tool used to accomplish these tasks. Such research is also vital in order to effectively monitor and evaluate past business decisions. A productive and thriving business will be one which suits the interests of customers, thus effective marketing begins with the recognition of customer needs.
It is well established that much communication occurs nonverbally (Weisner, 1988; Knapp, 1981; Seiter, 1987). That is, people "say" and "hear" a great deal more through nonverbal rather than verbal means of communication. However, virtually all market research tools rely on verbal means of communication such as questionnaires, telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews and discussions or focus groups. Such market research tools do not measure thought processes which are occurring without or below awareness. Indeed, even processes which the customer is aware of are often not measured well due to misreporting or under reporting for a variety of reasons.
Because companies rely so much on verbally oriented research tools they often miss much of what customers "say" and "hear" nonverbally. Thus, companies often miss important opportunities to understand customers better and to communicate better with them. As a consequence, companies miss opportunities to better serve their customers.
Similar to the situation of a company miscommunicating with its customers, communication within a company can be poor. This can be particularly true when the communication concerns thoughts and feelings about various personnel issues such as diversity, compensation, proposed or existing organizational arrangements such as merging and dividing debts, creating new organizational structures, interactions between superiors and subordinates and so on.
Lastly, self communication can also be an important issue; that is, how does the manager or C.E.O. think their customers think. These pre-existing biases can serve to "color" interpretations of marketing data. With awareness of these perceptions, one may more appropriately conduct market research.
A means for bringing to a level of conscious awareness those thoughts and feelings that are ordinarily not evident or are not evident in a clear or precise way is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,830 to Zaltman. Zaltman discloses a Metaphor Elicitation Technique (MET) which utilizes various research techniques to create a visually and other sensory oriented method and apparatus for creating research for marketing campaigns or to validate the thrust of an existing marketing campaign to determine if it accomplishes its stated purpose. This technique can also be used to improve inter-office and self communication. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,830 to Zaltman is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The process and apparatus of MET is based on the establishment of metaphors by users. A metaphor is the understanding and experiencing of one thing in terms of another. For example, a person may see a picture of an American flag as reflecting a sense of patriotism and hence be representative of his or her commitment to an American auto manufacturer.
The MET technique engages internal images, (neural patterns which underlie thought and feeling) and external images, (pictures, sounds, tastes, etc.) which represent or convey internal states of mind. It does this through a variety of steps and processes at each step. All sensory images are important nonverbal means of communication. Multiple sensory images are also important in the present invention since one sensory image such as sight can trigger the experience of another sensory image such as taste. This kind of connection among senses is known technically as synesthesia.
One outcome of the MET technique is a set of stimuli such as concepts or ideas which express important feelings and thought in the form of metaphors, among other things. These metaphors draw on all sensory perceptual systems, especially vision.
These concepts or ideas can then be used to develop a consensus map which is a diagrammatic metaphor for representing and understanding the preferences, opinions, and feelings of the user. It describes the thinking of a particular group of users such as customers, office personnel, or management, by synthesizing the mental models of individuals into an overall diagrammatic metaphor. It is, in fact, the major end product of the MET apparatus and process and is the guide to marketing staffs in the creation of advertising campaigns or formulating other marketing decisions and actions, to administrators in dealing with various personnel issues or to managers in unveiling pre-existing biases or beliefs.
Thus the MET technique and its apparatus is unique in how it engages the neural processes of thought and feeling and allows their expression in the form of metaphoric images which engage visual and nonvisual sensory systems.
The MET comprises the following steps:
Step 1. Storytelling. The user describes the content of relevant visual images and how they are associated with the research topic for that user. The images selected for the baseline series of images for evaluation for a topic under study. PA1 Step 2. Sorting Task. The user sorts images into meaningful groups. PA1 Step 3. Identifying and Recording Sensory Metaphors. The user identifies what is and what is not a good sensory representation of the research topic, in terms of sound, shape, tactile sensation, color, taste, smell or scent, and emotional feeling. PA1 Step 4. Further Construct Elicitation. A formal interviewing process in which pictures and other sensory stimuli are used to understand user thinking about the research topic. The constructs elicited in this step augment those elicited in Steps 1-3. PA1 Step 5. Most Representative Image. The user indicates which picture (from a given set of pictures) is most representative of the research topic (e.g., the meaning of luxury). PA1 Step 6. Verbal Description of Missing Images. The user describes relevant pictures that he or she was unable to find or obtain and explains their relevance. PA1 Step 7. Identifying Opposite Images. The user identifies pictures that describe the opposite of the topic (e.g., what is not luxury). PA1 Step 8. Company Perceptions of Users. Using sensory metaphors, the user describes what a company and/or key people, e.g. car designers, sales personnel, etc. think of them. (This is important since a user's response to a company is also influenced by this perception.) PA1 Step 9. Critical Message to the Company. The user describes the single most important message they want to convey to a company on the research topic. The user selects the sensory images that best reflect this message. PA1 Step 10. Surprise to the Company. The user describes which of his or her feelings or thoughts on the topic a relevant company is least prepared to hear. The user selects the sensory images that best convey this information. PA1 Step 11. The Mental Map. The user creates a map or a causal model using the constructs which have been elicited to express the user's overall thinking about the research topic. PA1 Step 12. Creation of a Summary Image. The user with the aid of a technician creates a single, still image (visual) which best summarizes the meaning of the research topic. PA1 Step 13. Creation of a Vignette or Mental Video. The user, with the aid of a technician creates a movie-like vignette or video expressive of the research topic. This is done using animation. (Note: Steps 12 and 13 typically provide different but complementary information) PA1 Step 14. Creation of the Consensus Map. The diagrammatic metaphor representing the researcher's understanding of user thinking. It consists of the users' most important constructs and their interrelationships. It describes most of the thinking of most users. It is an integration of information provided by all users participating in a project. Special analytic techniques are employed with the data used to construct the consensus map to determine whether market segments or subclusters of users can be identified within the consensus map. Thus one submap within the consensus map may be especially descriptive of one subgroup of users and another submap especially descriptive of another group's thinking. This analysis enhances the value of the consensus map in developing a marketing campaign.
The MET Apparatus
In order to effectuate the steps of the MET an apparatus is provided whereby a researcher, in conjunction with each user participating in a given research project, obtains the information needed to create the ultimate consensus map. The apparatus comprises a file of digital images from which are selected a series of images used for the storytelling step (Step 1). The user is able to add images to this file.
A digital sound recording is made of the user's story telling. The MET apparatus appends the digital sound recording to the digital image. The (digital) voice recording contains what is technically called paralanguage. Paralanguage consists of tone, inflection, and other cues or factors relating to how something is said. These factors convey important meaning beyond the actual words used and may even contradict those words. Paralanguage is generally considered a nonverbal dimension of communication.
The Sorting Task (Step 2) is accomplished by designating and sorting the various images retrieved, again using automated means of designating the images into different groups. For example, a user can "designate" which pictures fit into a particular group or group designation via a cursor or other keyboard input means.
The Sensory Metaphor step (Step 3) can also be accomplished via the apparatus whereby a user selects from a file or bank of sensory images those that are most expressive of the topic. These sensory images are stored digitally and represent an array of sounds, colors, shapes, and descriptions of smells, touches, etc. The user is able to add descriptions to this digital file. These images are metaphors. A digital sound recording is made of the user's description/selection of these images.
Step 1, 2, and 3 identify some important user constructs. Additional constructs are also elicited (Step 4) using a specific interviewing procedure. The sensory images or metaphors the user has identified in steps 1, 2, and 3 are used as the stimuli for this conversation. The MET apparatus contains these images as well as a procedure for conducting the conversation. This procedure involves a set of specifically designed thinking probes to help the user express their feelings, thoughts, and values.
The Most Representative Picture (Step 5) is also designated via the pointing/selection apparatus of the present invention.
Verbal descriptions of relevant images (Step 6) not available at the time of the interview are provided by a user. Verbal records of these images are stored in the system. These images comprise scenes/pictures designated by the user as providing additional information about the topic under study.
Opposite Images (Step 7) are also presented to or selected by a user based upon the user's statements. These images are stored on a separate database of digital images.
The user describes how he or she thinks a company involved with the research topic thinks of them (Step 8). Users may feel that they are thought of in negative or positive ways. Users select sensory images (visual, tactile, sound, etc.) from the image file or bank which they believe reflect how a company thinks of them. The user's voice (audio) is recorded digitally on the apparatus of the present invention as he or she provides this information and is connected to the appropriate image.
The critical message to the company (Step 9) and the surprise to the company (Step 10) are illustrated by the user using various visual and other sensory metaphors in the image file or bank. The user's verbal commentary is recorded digitally (in audio) by the apparatus and connected to the appropriate images.
The Mental Map (Step 11) is a series of recorded constructs or images created by the user and stored in the system. These mental maps constitute accurate representations of ideas important to the user and how they relate to one another. The set of constructs elicited through earlier steps are brought up on the display device of the apparatus. These are validated by the user. The user then establishes connections among the constructs using a mouse, cursor, or pressure sensitive digitizing tablet (using a stylus or even a finger.)
A composite or summary digital image is created next (Step 12) using a form of "clip art" common to many desk top publishing systems and an image management system stored in the CPU. A technician assists the user in the use of the software. A user's own pictures often form the starting point for this step. A digital voice recording is made of the user's explanation of this summary image and is appended to the image as part of the record.
The user's description of a movie-like vignette (Step 13) describing the research topic is recorded. That is, the user's voice is digitally recorded (as in earlier steps) as this vignette is described. The user then directs a technician in the creation of an animated representation of this vignette using standard computer video animation techniques. The user's digitally recorded (audio) description is appended to this vignette.
The final creation of a consensus map (Step 14) is essentially the summation of all of the data created by individual users using the apparatus. The consensus map contains verbal labels for each major construct. Constructs that are related to one another are connected with arrows. The researcher or marketing manager is able to click (with a mouse or other device) on a particular construct. When this is done the most relevant pictures and other sensory metaphors associated with that construct appear on the computer screen or other display device. Where appropriate, the digitally recorded voices of users commenting on the pictures or other sensory metaphors are also presented. The researcher or marketing manager may also click on an arrow connecting any two constructs and retrieve a verbatim text and/or audio statement from one or more users describing how one construct affects the other.
The researcher or marketing manager is also able to review all animated vignettes created in Step 13. These vignettes are indexed to constructs in the consensus map and to their interrelationships. Thus, it is possible to see and hear an animated enactment of a construct and its impact on other constructs.
The metaphors associated or connected with each construct are the sensory definitions of those constructs. They convey the important nonverbal meanings of these constructs. It is these meanings which are often missing from market research. This is partially due to the fact that verbal skills of those whose input is being solicited vary widely. It has been found however that in employing the MET, the verbal skills of a user are not critical since the visual sensory development of persons is relatively more advanced than verbal development. Therefore, education level and/or age of a user is not critical to the MET. Generally users using the MET are more equal on a sensory level than they are on a verbal skills level. This in turn contributes to the accuracy and consistency of responses generated.
The MET presently runs on the Apple Macintosh family of computers. However, the MET can also be implemented on IBM and IBM compatible computers employing the Intel.RTM. 80386, 80486 or Pentium family of processors, although this is not meant as a limitation. Input scanners such as the Apple OneScanner Polaroid CS-5000 Photo Print Scanner, the Microtek ScanMaker 1850S (35 mm slide/negative scanner) and the Microtek ScanMaker 6007S flatbed scanner are all appropriate scanners for use with the present invention. Other scanners having similar capabilities are clearly appropriate.
Other input devices include the WACOM SD420E Digitizing Tablet for shape input and to delineate portions of images to be extracted as well as the CALCOMP Drawing Board Roman II Digitizing Table for the same purpose.
Additional output devices include the LaserMaster 1000 and the GSC ColorFast Digital Film Recorder for providing hard-copy output of images created.
It is desirable to further refine the information obtained through practicing the MET technique. That is, once the key constructs and important metaphors have been identified, it is usefull to assess them further. For example, what is their relative importance? Do they produce responses that people may have trouble articulating orally or using paper and pencil measures such as questionnaires? Do they produce responses that people are not aware they are experiencing? Are some of these constructs and metaphors more memorable than others? Are some more positive (negative) than others? It is also desirable to use neuroimaging to evaluate marketing stimulus, both directly and indirectly. This refinement is the subject matter of the present invention.